Recruiting Football Talk VII

[Outofmyvolcanmind]

First 10 win season since 2007, Heupel is a damn good coach and I'm happy to have him. He's in year 3 and dealing with replacing a Heisman caliber QB in Hooker. Just beat the teams you're supposed to this year and push to win 8 or more.

Before the season I thought @ Florida, @ Alabama, and vs Georgia were the toughest games and Florida laying an egg in game 1 on the road against Utah didn't exactly improve my confidence because I actually thought Utah, especially on defense was going to be better to start the season than us.

Now how we performed against Austin Peay and in the first half at Florida were just sorry efforts, especially on defense. We all can identify the areas to improve, we may not all agree who should shoulder the most blame but the staff is well aware too. But you can't just let players who aren't buying in skate either, especially in year 3 when you're still building the program culture and with the COVID year we still have a lot of Pruitt players on the roster. So sit their asses if they break team rules, if they don't want to play a different spot to help the team and see the field sooner, or if they simply half-ass it all week and someone else works their tail off. Got no issue with it, eventually we want the talent to be deep and good enough that it won't impact if we win or lose. Sadly I think Mincey playing might have actually had a positive impact, but I trust Coach Heupel he's at 69% (nice) winning percentage for a reason. And with 20 wins he's already won more than Pruitt and Dooley.

Great post. After Tebow, Florida went 8-5 with the most talented team in the country. After Vince Young, Texas went 9-3 in a weakened Big 12. 2021 Clemson went 9-3. 2011 Auburn went 8-5. All these teams replaced generational QB's. We need to keep our eye on the prize and keep compiling talent. We'll be back. Expansion of the playoff will assist the pain we feel from the Georgia talent gap.

 

[KB5252]

good post

The BCS era hyper-focused on perfection, and trained us that 1 loss is the end of the world.

In the playoff era, 2 losses will probably be fine. Similar to the NFL, you can lose a couple and still win it all.

That's not why our fans are upset though. This was our best shot to win in the swamp in a decade. Furthermore after some shaky play to start the season it was our litmus test to see what we really were.

There were not many positives to be found. The defense looks to be about what it was last year...... Combine that with an offense that is struggling and that could be a really bad sign for a team that leaned heavily on it's offense last year.

We expected to take a small step back..... After our troubling start so far there is concern we may take a much bigger step back then we are comfortable with. There is still a lot of ball to be played, Heupel had his work cut out for him. Hopefully he can get this team moving in the right direction.

 

[TrippieRedd]

I pissed at Mincey.

You hit him ?

 

[Orange.]

I have a question: why wouldn’t we try to move Crawford and Mincey back to left tackle, and move Campbell to right? I thought they did ok there last season. Is Campbell just not suited for the right side?

All I know is it was said that all spots were open in an open competition in fall camp and coaches thought Campbell should play the blindside. I do think he was recruited for that position.

Of course, they might have experimented with flipping Campbell and Mincey at some point in game time. But (and I am somewhat reluctant to speak on a rumor) IF Mincey is pulling an attitude about playing the right side, and now going so far as to catch a misdemeanor ticket in town during curfew, then Mincey himself (and whoever might be advising him) have put the coaches in a position where they can't give in to him. It was a really dumb thing to do. Wright went in the first round at RT. Mincey needs to not think that is not good enough for him imo. He needs to take whatever anger he has and direct it at a DE.

 

[BigSteve09]

That's not why our fans are upset though. This was our best shot to win in the swamp in a decade. Furthermore after some shaky play to start the season it was our litmus test to see what we really were.

There were not many positives to be found. The defense looks to be about what it was last year...... Combine that with an offense that is struggling and that could be a really bad sign for a team that leaned heavily on it's offense last year.

We expected to take a small step back..... After our troubling start so far there is concern we may take a much bigger step back then we are comfortable with. There is still a lot of ball to be played, Heupel had his work cut out for him. Hopefully he can get this team moving in the right direction.

Hard to argue.

I just think about the other sports - Vols bball, Vols baseball. Sometimes even our best teams don't look like themselves and have some inexplicable loss(es). They have more games to figure it out though.

To this point, I think the offense and defense look worse than they did last year. I thought the 2nd half was better than the 1st in the Swamp. I'll see if they look better vs UTSA, then I'll see if we trounce South Carolina, which is obviously our next big show and prove.

We all knew we weren't going to win them all this year. I agree with your last paragraph.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Nope. I think there will be some encouragement by the staff and teammates to get him to play. We will need him.

If he truly isn’t back till A&M, he’s gotta be returning next year.

 

[Orange.]

Sounds like the compromise needs to be that he plays against USCjr

I dont know much about hernias though.

I don't either, and in all seriousness, Coop is going to have to weigh medical opinions and make the best decision for himself. We'll see. I have no doubt whatsoever that Coop loves this team and program.

 

[jmacvols1]

Wes Rucker
@wesrucker247
·
29m
#Vols OC Joey Halzle said there's nothing about the operation of the Tennessee offense that would improve with Nico Iamaleava at QB right now because Joe Milton III is "operating at a really high level."

 

[VolNash17]

Neyland will be ROCKING. Let’s go!

 

[VolNash17]

Wes Rucker
@wesrucker247
·
29m
#Vols OC Joey Halzle said there's nothing about the operation of the Tennessee offense that would improve with Nico Iamaleava at QB right now because Joe Milton III is "operating at a really high level."

I’d expect to hear nothing differently from the staff

 

[Orange.]

If the fanbase is this combustible over a single loss now, wait till Texas and Oklahoma join and the league becomes even tougher.

Folks need to realize college football is changing and we need to get over losses much, much faster. I can't believe the hand wringing and questioning of coaches and the future of the program still going on, several days after an entirely predictable struggle in Florida for a young team missing multiple key pieces and breaking in a new QB. Goodness!

The every game is an elimination game was a fun and totally unique feature of college football. And I loved it. But I'm all about the now and future.

 

[engineerVOL]

Great post. After Tebow, Florida went 8-5 with the most talented team in the country. After Vince Young, Texas went 9-3 in a weakened Big 12. 2021 Clemson went 9-3. 2011 Auburn went 8-5. All these teams replaced generational QB's. We need to keep our eye on the prize and keep compiling talent. We'll be back. Expansion of the playoff will assist the pain we feel from the Georgia talent gap.

Milton definitely has the misfortune of following Hendo Cinco + Jalin Hylight.

 

[Orange.]

I've lost to Florida my entire life. We have a better team and a 6th year QB. I think Heup is the man, but that game was garbage and it's on him.

Heup definitely should have blocked better.

 

[Leeleesteeth]

Your missus tell you to leave?

No. Apparently I can't spell "on".

 

[Orange.]

....I thought the 2nd half was better than the 1st in the Swamp.....

Hard to argue.

I just think about the other sports - Vols bball, Vols baseball. Sometimes even our best teams don't look like themselves and have some inexplicable loss(es). They have more games to figure it out though.

To this point, I think the offense and defense look worse than they did last year. I thought the 2nd half was better than the 1st in the Swamp. I'll see if they look better vs UTSA, then I'll see if we trounce South Carolina, which is obviously our next big show and prove.

We all knew we weren't going to win them all this year. I agree with your last paragraph.

I thought we were good enough to win the game in the second without the SEC determining the outcome with crooked officiating at every decisive point. (It is not an exaggeration based on emotion.)

We would be having a completely different conversation. I hate it for our team that they had to go through that. And they know what it was, even if they can't say.

But let's sack up and come back stronger!

 

[Smyrna ATL Vol]

I dont like this.
We all want to see Nico but his first start behind this O Line against a TXAM team that has a loaded D line. Thus years gonna suck but just ride Joe out. We can get to a pointless bowl game without killing Nico.

Can’t do that. Recruiting will die. Big recruiting pitch is we had a lucky year last year and will suck again now. If we go 6-6 or 7-5, it would not be good for our recruiting. If Joe can’t get it done, you have to move to Nico and hope he can.

 

[volbeast33]

good post

The BCS era hyper-focused on perfection, and trained us that 1 loss is the end of the world.

In the playoff era, 2 losses will probably be fine. Similar to the NFL, you can lose a couple and still win it all.

i don’t think it is bc we have one loss….it is who beat us.

 

[Orange.]

It's almost like the game plans so far have revolved around being really conservative on both sides of the ball. On offense...hoping your depth at RB moves the ball and doesn't put pressure on the QB. On defense...playing soft coverages and hoping your d-line does the heavy lifting. It's a "don't lose the game" mindset verses a "go win the game" mindset. They need to cut the guys loose to attack.

I think it is much more the OL than Joe. I'll have to stomach rewatching the game, but for the most part I didn't see all these open lanes that HH supposedly would have bolted through. Last year our tackles kicked people out and the guard held his block, so if the edges tried to run around the OT: there was the lane most often exploited. Florida was collapsing the pocket across the board and maintaining their lane discipline.

 

[volbeast33]

He also isn’t going to do anything to a coach that took an absolute mess to one game from a playoff appearance and #6 final ranking in less than 2 years. Heupel set the expectations for us. We know he can do it, but he’s built some equity in what he’s done.

There is some perspective in all of this.

nobody should be talking about firing Heupel….. it is a huge concern that they feel like they need to flip their own roster with 11-12 transfers….Something is very wrong with that picture.

 

[LargePairOfVols]

That's not why our fans are upset though. This was our best shot to win in the swamp in a decade. Furthermore after some shaky play to start the season it was our litmus test to see what we really were.

There were not many positives to be found. The defense looks to be about what it was last year...... Combine that with an offense that is struggling and that could be a really bad sign for a team that leaned heavily on it's offense last year.

We expected to take a small step back..... After our troubling start so far there is concern we may take a much bigger step back then we are comfortable with. There is still a lot of ball to be played, Heupel had his work cut out for him. Hopefully he can get this team moving in the right direction.

We’ll have to beat SC and A&M to demonstrate we are truly on the way up. Couple examples- ND and LSU had major early season disappointments last year. Both recovered and had good/decent seasons.

Will we recover? Remains to be seen but I know which way I’m leaning…

 

[volbeast33]

LOL. So desperate for clout.

confused…. do you really get clout for what i said? i just report things that i know or hear.

 

[volbeast33]

Their OL recruitment has been bad. And it’s showing. Imagine this line without Spraggins and Campbell (if he goes pro)

12 guys is more than the line… that’s pitiful.

 

[knoxvol52]

good post

The BCS era hyper-focused on perfection, and trained us that 1 loss is the end of the world.

In the playoff era, 2 losses will probably be fine. Similar to the NFL, you can lose a couple and still win it all.

Yea but you better get a top 8 or better seeding...9-12 goes to the home field of the 5-8 seeds in 1st round....who the hell wants to go to Michigan or Penn St..or so on in December in the cold, rain ,wind and possibly snow....getting a home game in 1st round very important...

 

[Orange.]

It’s because we looked so bad doing it. And more than that- we are boring. We aren’t interesting.

Take Colorado- they’re going to lose to Oregon. And probably by a decent amount. They’re outclassed to a man. But…they’ll be exciting. You’ll see flashes. You’ll see excitement. And this is a Colorado team last year that was worse than any team TN has ever fielded. Ever.

We just aren’t exciting. We have the same guys making the same predictable errors.

Make it stop.

We weren't boring in the second half until an uncalled PI in the endzone preempted one touchdown and a blindside block call ended a second TD drive. The official kicking the ball, and another stopping the clock after Ollie had already reset it and was ready to snap was another, and allowing substitutions and disrupting our rhythm completely killed yet another drive. We were very exciting. It was going to top the comeback at ND back in the day. We were going to Florida Florida at Florida. JMO.

If that had happened, everything in the first half would have remained the exactly the same, but everything would be in a dramatically different light.

 

[Jimmy Football]

nobody should be talking about firing Heupel….. it is a huge concern that they feel like they need to flip their own roster with 11-12 transfers….Something is very wrong with that picture.

We do have big roster concerns, but even if we didn’t, you gotta go upgrade wherever you can every year now. I mean, Florida State took 12 this year, and it’s working out for them. I don’t think that was an indictment on their program, or anything.

8-12 a year kinda needs to be the standard going forward. It is what it is.